Rise of the TSA
by Raven3010
Summary: War raged on for ages between the Advent, Vasari and TEC. But now its finaly over, but a new threat is already looming over the horizon.
1. Prolog

**Accessing….**

**Brief history of the TEC and the Three Species Alliance.**

**Accesses granted**

The history of the TEC began more than 1,000 years ago during the foundation of the Trade Order by economically driven revolutionists. They overthrew the ruling empire and banished its aristocrats into the void.

Out of the ruble of their revolution they build up an society basing on strict principles of economics and codes of behavior.

The Trader Worlds quickly began to expand, making the Trade Order an industrial and commercial juggernaut. However outside of the Traders core principles, each member world maintained its own interests. Form of government, economic systems and culture.

It was during this early period of the Trade Order that something unique took place which would later reshape the galaxy. During a routine exploratory expedition to recruit new trading partners, emissaries from the Order discovered a dry, desert world orbiting a red giant, whereupon further scans discovered a thriving civilization. Eager to integrate this prosperous civilization into the Trade Order, emissaries established communication with the civilization's leaders from orbit. However, the leaders turned down the membership offer.

Not to be dissuaded, the Trade Order sent several market research teams to the desert planet in order to gather data that could be used to formulate a more enticing strategy for this civilization.

Unfortunately, dreams of integration quickly turned to horror upon landing on the planet. Here the teams discovered a colony of people practicing the most heinous forms of scientific and social deviancy. Invasive cerebral integration technologies, unrestricted biological experimentation, strange forms of collectivism, and wholesale usage of countless neurochemicals were but a few of the transgressions. All these deviancies and more violated the codes and principles of personal freedoms that made up the very foundation of the Trade Order.

Having received only a single, incomplete report of this disturbing information, the emissaries returned to Trader space. Upon their return, their news sent shockwaves throughout the Trader Worlds, who voted overwhelmingly to take control of this desert planet and exile their twisted cousins to the far reaches of space. In time, this exiled civilization was forgotten.

Over the next thousand years the Trade Order went on in relative peace and prosperity – a golden age for mankind. War became a thing read about only in history books and seen in holo-vids. The rare heated dispute was settled in Trader-sanctioned courts and merchant fleets filled the phase lanes with goods, while the worst thing one could worry about was the occasional raid by bands of marauding pirates in the trade lanes, easily dealt with by local defense fleets.

The Trade Order's golden age came to an abrupt end a decade ago with the arrival of the Vasari Empire. With no defenses and constant political infighting between Trade Order representatives and numerous politicians, the Vasari swept the Order's ships aside with ease. Within only a few short months defeat seemed like a real possibility. In a last ditch effort to turn the tide, the Trade Order sanctioned the creation of the Trader Emergency Coalition to combat the alien threat. The TEC quickly learned to marshal the vast industrial resources of the Trader Worlds towards military production and used their new war engine to finally stall the Vasari attack.

The people of the TEC began to hope again and under the famous Admiral Justin Kol, the TEC military began to drive back the invaders. But while this assault was ongoing a new enemy arrived on the eastern Fringe.

The exiles from the past one-thousand years have returned, calling themselves the Advent. They gained a foothold on Trader territory before the TEC could redirect fleets to halt the Advent advance.

These redirection cut of vital supply to the Vasari front and the assault that seemed so promising died down and was suddenly reversed.

10 years the Coalition forces were pushed back on both fronts, but when the first Advent ships met the Vasari the TEC front got a much need relive from the onslaught.

Wasting no time TEC forces began to build up mighty Starbases, fortifying the fronts and grounding the war into a stalemate. However this small victory came to an great costs. Due to the stalemate the TEC could make little to no headway in reclaiming their lost territory.

This series of events lasted ten years until the races came to a realization that war was taking its toll on lives and resources. Envoys were sent and diplomacy was given a chance. With surprisingly much success. The Vasari and Advent were as tired form the war the TEC was and so peace negotiations cam underway.

However not all Advent, Vasari and Coalition citizens wanted the peace and after the war at the borders ceased inner conflicts boiled up, splitting the factions and another long an bloody war began.

The Rebels had the surprise on their side but the loyalists got their strong allies. The Rebels realized to late that the war that should dived the 3 Species was binding them tighter together and in the last months of the Rebellion, Vasari, TEC and Advent ships fighting side b side was no uncommon sight.

After inner peace was achieved once again. The negotiations continued, leading to the founding of the Three Species Alliance (TSA)

In the aftermath of the Age of War, technology was shared and old borders reformed. The TEC formed back into the Trade Order, reinstating the Senate and giving back each colony its individual goverment. However the vast fleets stayed under the command of High Com and the Senate, to prevent another Vasari invasion.

The Advent finally gained access to their home planet again and immediately settled it and began sharing there Culture with the remaining inhabitants that did resettle.

The Vasari however, began to pack up and five years after the war ended the most of them took of again into the vast emptiness of the Void, leaving just a few that want to help their allies fighting the unknown threat. The leftover territory was soon split up to equal parts between the TO and the Advent.

**End of Official Version.**

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**Continuing with classified information**

Before the Vasari vanished once again, they discovered some sort of Gate network with its help they gathered their resources three times faster than we ever imagined.

But with the discovering of this network came the discovery of a much greater and much more corrupted society. The Advent immediately went against an Idea od initiating first contacted and the TO supported them after seeing the disadvantages. The Idea came up to undermine this so called Citadel Council with spies, but this idea turned out to be impossible due to the lack of shape shifting technology. So the plan was put on ice for the moment and each gate that was found in Advent or Order space got and strong defense force to fend of attackers that might come through them.

10 years past until the possibility of infiltrating the Council showed itself.

The Human System Alliance joined the Council species and so the Human spies of the TO could access the societies of the member species without drawing to much attention.

However two years after the first infiltration attempts another faction entred the field.

A pro Human splinter group captured one of the agents and over him got informations over the TSA and contact was established, secretly.

**! WARNING!**

**USER HAS NOT THE AUTORISATION TO READ BEYOND THIS POINT!**

**SHUTTING DOWN!**

**Doing my best luffy imitation "I AM BACK". Yeah a long time has passed since I promised you the new fic, but shortly after I uploaded the chapter my PC broke down and it took me some time to fix it. After it was fixed it got to occupied with school to do anything other than studying.**

**But now I am back with this new fic and I hope you like it. I hope some of you are still there to read this new start and now I am at the loss of words. So see you soon in the next chapter. Oh and before I forget it I will try to upload regularly but m final exams are coming closer and yeah, good for you I have English as an LP course so that my teacher tries to look over my stories.**

**Yep that was all I wanted to say, see you soon!**


	2. Chapter 1: Rising from the Shadows

**15. September. 2183 (three weeks after the destruction of Sovereign)**

The Citadel was still in ruins as the UT-47 Kodiak flew to the external docking ports.

Salvage ships and recovery crews, still searched for survivors and removed the first wreckages of the Geth armada and the Geth dreadnought, which parts where still embedded in the wards.

Janne Sheppard let a frustrated snort. After all the evidences she gave, the council still believed that this was the Geths work. Hell she even let an Asari look into her mind, but all this was washed away by the statement that the visions could be a product of her fantasy, given solid mater due to the shock of experiencing to mind invasions by the beacons.

But for them it wasn`t enough, the even accused the alliance to withhold technology of great importance! The phase drive technology, salvaged from ruins on earth, that saved their asses, was now a reason to them to withhold the seat in the council humanity would have got for protecting the citadel.

But this was not her concern anymore. Being a Specter she has to obey them and after the ceremony today she would be send on patrol finding the remaining Geth that got away.

She looked over to the empty seats in front of her. Her whole crew was already on the Citadel, helping rebuild or enjoying the money the council gave them to keep quiet about the things they found out in the last months.

She sighed again. If there hadn`t been some troubles with her implants she would also be already there but to her frustration it got damaged In the fight against Saren and needed to be replaced.

Still in her thoughts she doesn't noticed that the shuttle already touched down and just reacted as the side of the shuttle opened and light felt on her alliance issued gala-uniform. Orders gleamed in the artificial light, but she didn`t care about them.

Stepping out of the shuttle she noticed the damage to the docking bays that was still present. Everywhere were holes and even parts of the Reaper. One finger was just removed with heavy lifting equipment as she walked towards the entrance of C-Sec.

None of her Crew was present, but she knows that she would meet them at the memorial ceremony which started to her shock 15 minutes ago.

Wasting no time, or wasting as little time as the slow elevators would allow, she hurried to the entrance of the tower where a tribune had been erected and the three Councilors were already holding their speeches. She arrived at her place just in time to hear the last words of councilor Trevor's speech; earning her a sharp look form Udina and a small smile form Anderson.

Anderson. The anger of her previous thoughts crept up again. He would have been the human councilor if the council wouldn`t be so damn stubborn. With this thoughts in her mind it was hard to focus on the speech of councilor Sparatus, who honored the fighting spirit of the human forces, but again reminded what casualties could have been avoided if the HSA traded there technology with them.

Yes traded analyzed and banned, because it would make your Eezo mines obsolete. A small smirk found its way on her face only to be replaced by a small sting at the back of her head.

Something was wrong with this whole day. She had this feeling of forbidding the whole time and she trusted her gut feeling. But what could go wrong now? Four whole fleets were protecting the Citadel from the outside and Guards were bolstered by military forces. She looked around a bit guards with snipers on the Balcones, C-sec officers with assault rifles and shotguns around the crowd, specters behind the councilors watching the crowd and surrounding buildings.

The feeling increased making her look around more. Anderson seemed to share her feeling ad his gaze started to scan the crowd.

There! On the far side of the crowd. A lone tech wearing the cloth of the Terra News Network.

Anderson found him, too. They shared a look. TNN was an earth only network. Not a interstellar network.

A small nod from Anderson was enough and she silently backed away from the other alliance representatives. Udina wanted to stop her, but was intercepted by Andersons arm.

With a last smug look to Udina she dove into the crowd, brought her Omni-tool online and contacted her crew.

"We have a suspicious person in the crowd, all form up around me."

She set her gaze back on the Tech. His eyes looked right into hers.

In a fluid motion he pulled out a gun, different than any she ever saw, and shoot in the direction of the councilors.

A blue beam pierced the air and would have hit, but one of the specters pulled the Turian councilor down. The shot instead impacted on the Krogan statue behind the tribune, burning a smoking hole in the head plate of the stone Krogan.

The crowd began to panic and every attempted by C-Sec to follow the mysterious assailant were halted by the panicked people.

2 km away

A lone figure stood at a ruined window. Her curved shape hidden under a blue uniform was illuminated by the orange glow of the visor; she used to watch the chaos before the tower.

With her index finger she tapped against her ear, activating the communication gear that was hidden there.

"Shepard took the bite, set plan A in motion. I will be there in a few minutes."

There was no answered. The Team on the other side of the com channel had no need for answering. A fact that the person respected, nearly admired.

"A shame they don't work for Cerberus. A team with this talent would be a great asset."

With this thought of her mind, Miranda turned towards the door, tipping away on her Omni tool. If everything would go well, Cerberus would be in the position to raise humanity above everything else and to place fear in the heart of any alien they come across.

**1 week before **

**Unknown location**

The room was pitch-black, just a small table was illuminated by a small lamp hanging from the ceiling. Four figures were seated around it, no features visible, just some occasional limbs that got caught in the light.

"The appearance of the Reaper should have brought them together not dividing them further and even banish all evidence. The days of acting rom the background are over now, because the council has proven itself unable to fend for themselves."

A deep male voice said calmly.

A female voice halted him from saying anything further.

"Yes but there are resent developments that concern me. How did the HSA get the phase technology? Maybe our allies can bring some light to that matter."

Her voice flowed through the rom and seemed to have some kind of echo effect.

Her question was picked up by another voice, before the receiver of the question could say something.

"Our analyst went over the data of the old empire and it might be that earth was once a colony that got separated in the revolution. It would be no surprise if they had this tech from the beginning but didn`t want the other races to know."

The voice was rough as it would have trouble speaking.

A small glow suddenly illuminated the blackness, revealing the tip of a cigarette and a face for a small friction of time.

"Cerberus doesn't know anything about it. The Alliance hid it well, but our network within the HSA Military should bear fruits soon and any "leak" will be sealed so that nothing can get to the Council. How are the other preparations going on?"

The first voice spoke again:

"We will use the confusion and need for help that resulted in the Geth attack to ship material and Personal into hidden storages, placed all over the Citadel."

"The psychic Commandos are moving in position as we speak. Tell me for what do we need Shepard again?"

Her voice flowed again through the room, but that was soon joined by the only alien's voice.

"We already went over this. She is the only one that can unite the species under one banner to fight the old enemy. Also she is the first human specter, a beacon of hope, a hero. Convincing her to our cause will gain us much needed public support. How are the preparations for the diplomatic plan going on?"

"We have three Trader fleets on standby in the near of the Citadel, a diplomatic convoy is already being assembled and ready when the Advent fleet is in position. But don't you think two Ankylon, one Ragnarov and one Eradica Titan are bit overkill? I mean they don't even have shields against energy weapons."

"No."

Was the short answer from the Alien, while the Woman began to elaborate.

"We want to show the Council their place if worst comes to worst. For this we need to show them our strength. Now let us listen to what the illusive man has to say."

You could feel the air thickening between the two as the echo of her voice still held the taunting undertone. But the smoker seemed to ignore it.

"Our ships are ready and we also moved personal to critical locations. The absent of the fifth fleet is good thing that should ease some things."

"Than in all we are prepared and ready to bring the heavy end of the hammer right on the council's heads if they refuse to listen to us. With this said I call the meeting adjourned."

After the Alien finished small orange lights appeared, illuminating all figure briefly, but immediately broke apart and all the room was empty again, but not for long.

Three holograms blinked in existence again, glowing bright so you could see the occupants.

"Do you thing Cerberus will walk into the trap we set up?"

The question of the human male in a navy blue uniform hovered in the room like looming threat.

The hooded woman in white robes adjusted herself a bit on her throne before she answered.

"Cerberus has proven that they are not trustworthy. Even if they don`t fall in our trap, we still need to eradicate them. Also when we free earth from their grasp, we could also gain the trust of the alliance, showing them that the council can't protect them."

The brown alien in red robes stayed silent, passing the statement silently to the human opposite of him.

"So while Cerberus is busy fighting above earth. We will capture their HQ and imprison TIM. I think the two Ankylon would be sufficient to lock down the system it is in.

The Human male leaned back, closing his eyes for a brief second. Than he leaned forward again, staring in the eyes of the Vasari in front of him.

"Do you really think we can stop the ancient ones if we unite this galaxy?"

The Alien lowered his head slightly, than his raspy voice echoed through the chamber.

"I am not sure. They destroyed our dark fleet and everything else we sent their way. The last of our race can only hope that we can stop them here and that they can settle peacefully in another system. Because if not my people will be on the run forever. Fleeing from galaxy to galaxy, until none is left and we drift in the big empty between the stars."

The Advent and the human stayed silent; there was nothing left to say.

Without a word the holograms deactivated themselves again and silence was the only thing left in the chamber."

**Citadel**

**15. September. 2183**

"God dammit that Tech is fast." Grunted Garrus as the turned another corner. They already lost the others, either through the crowd or in Tali's case because her species was not designed for long pursuits. Just Ashley could keep up with him and the Commander.

Another blue beam zipped by. Again missing him by mere centimeters and hitting the sign of a 24 hours coffee shop. The tech rounded another corner, into a small alleyway.

"Now we have him stay on alert guys, he can't escape…" She couldn't finish her sentence.

A loud gunshot echoed through the streets and the frame of the tech stumbled back into view. Blood oozed from a wound in his chest and colored his uniform red.

With a muffled thumb, the body of the tech fell on the floor, a pool of blood forming around the body.

The team stopped and draws their weapons, only to nearly drop them in surprise.

Out of the dark stepped three figures: Two N6 marines and a woman in the uniform of an Alliance Intelligence officer. But it was not the sudden appearance that surprised him; it was the breathtaking body of the female officer that nearly led him to forget that he had a thing for the Quarien engineer that was a few minutes or so behind them.

'Focus Garrus she is just a human, get yourself together.'

Still struggling to regain his composure, the woman began to speak.

"Good day commander. Let me introduce myself. I am Miranda Dragunov, Alliance Intelligence and I require your assistance."

* * *

**Hey, hey, hey. I am back again with after a long time full of exams and presentations that kept me away from this Story. **

**First I want to thank miner249er for reading through this, correcting something here and there and also giving me advises how to improve this story. **

**Also I want to say that I will try to keep the chapters in this length because if I make them bigger they take up more of my time, which is limited due to school and final exams. I will try and update once or twice a month depending at how fast I can write and how fast miner can look through them. **

**With this said, I which everybody a good time until next time.**


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